Gail Arthur has tended Brigit’s fire with the Daughters of the Flame for the past seventeen years. Her intelligence, compassion, and deep sensitivity make her a caring and supportive co-religionist. These, added to her brilliant creativity, make her a thoughtful and inspiring dramatist, poet, writer of fiction, storyteller, and dancer.
But there is another side to Gail. She is also a celebrant.
I have recently been contemplating the end
of my own life, which I hope is not right around the corner, but which will
come at some point, and that is not the moment at which I want to start
thinking of what to do.
One of the first thoughts that came to me
was that, if it was at all possible, I would like to have Gail involved in the guiding
of my presence from this life. I know that she would handle it with ability and
love. It then occurred to me that other followers of Brigit might want to have
access to someone like Gail at key moments in their life, so I invited her to
write a brief self-introduction that I could present to you.
Thanks and blessings on your work, Gail.
Mael
Brigde
Celebrancy and Storytelling
I
am both storyteller and celebrant. As a storyteller, I weave the elements of a
tale, taking audiences on a journey that leads inwards to themselves. As a
celebrant, I do much the same thing, taking people into the stories of their
lives.
Our
lives are a continuing story, and there are important turning points along the
way – places where we are propelled – or choose – to move in a new direction,
and enter a new stage.
These
occasions are momentous, life-altering, and irrevocable: the birth of a child,
the transition from childhood to adult, a marriage, the transition to elder,
death, the loss of an animal companion or a friend, a divorce, or a decision to
leave behind a toxic birth family or other situation. Each of these steps
brings its own trials, emotions, joys, fears, sadness and new opportunities. To
move in one direction is to leap into the unknown, it is to leave behind the
familiar.
My
job as a life-cycle celebrant, is to take the strands of an individual life,
knitting together a ceremony that addresses the emotions and the reality of a
new situation. This could mean acknowledging and helping the grieving process,
and well as the celebration of a life lived; acknowledging the responsibility
and joy that comes with the birth of a child, the change of situation for a new
adult, the changes that come with a new partnership, and with the transition to
elderhood.
Often,
the transition to elderhood can be difficult in our western society. Taking a
look at what this means, and going into this stage of life mindfully can take
away the fears and denials involved, giving that stage in life a purpose. This
is the strength of ceremony, helping us to look deeply and to reflect, moving
consciously through life, and celebrating it as we go.
Bio:
Gail Arthur leads ceremonies and tells stories in many places, but especially
in Ohio, Ontario and the Vancouver area. She is a Druid with the Order of Bards
Ovates and Druids, a Fellowship of Isis Priestess, and a writer. She is a keeper of Brighid's flame through the Daughters of the Flame.
Join
her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gail.arthur.946.
Images: Gail Arthur.
Brigid at St Brigid's Centre for the Arts by Denisa Prochazka.
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